Mobile communication terminal, digital hearing aid, and method of controlling the digital hearing aid using the mobile communication terminal

ABSTRACT

A mobile communication terminal interacts with a digital hearing aid and a wireless hearing aid uses the mobile communication terminal. When a user having the mobile communication terminal interworking with the digital hearing aid operates the hearing aid, an amplification function suitable for auditory characteristics of the user is performed. That is, when auditory information of the user is sent to the terminal, the terminal adjusts an amplification gain to prevent the acoustic shock by measuring an environmental signal. The terminal computes an environment profile by analyzing the measured environmental signal and auditory information of the user sent from the hearing aid and automatically adjusts a non-linear amplification level according to a user environment by sending the environment profile to the hearing aid.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a U.S. continuation application claiming prioritybenefit of U.S. Ser. No. 12/624,074 filed in the United States on Nov.23, 2009, which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) of KoreanPatent Application No. 10-2009-0029523, filed on Apr. 6, 2009, in theKorean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosures of which areincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The present general inventive concept relates to a mobile communicationterminal, a digital hearing aid, and a method of controlling the digitalhearing aid using the mobile communication terminal, and moreparticular, to a mobile communication terminal and method capable ofproviding information about an operation of a digital hearing aid and anenvironmental situation to a user wearing the hearing aid andcontrolling the operation of the hearing aid, and a wireless digitalhearing aid.

2. Description of the Related Art

In general, a hearing aid is fitted to an ear. An audiologist finelyadjusts fitting information (for example, frequency amplificationconditions) according to an audiogram of a corresponding user at aninitial time. Since the user may be in contact with various noiseenvironments in everyday life, he/she may be inconvenienced when thefitting information is not properly changed according to an environment.It is very troublesome for the user to again wear the hearing aid afterdetaching the hearing aid from the ear and adjusting the fittinginformation whenever the user environment is changed. Generally, theuser does not adjust the fitting information, and must receiveassistance of the audiologist.

Since a digital hearing aid operates in a state in which the hearing aidis fitted to a user's ear, it is difficult for the user to accuratelyidentify an operation state of the hearing aid during everyday life. Forexample, the user may determine that the hearing aid has failed due toother factors in spite of a state in which a normal operation isdisabled due to only an electric power shortage. This inaccuracy mayfrequently occur because the user cannot accurately recognize theelectric power shortage.

When large noise suddenly occurs in a situation where the conventionalhearing aid does not receive information in surrounding environments ofthe user, especially, auditory information, the user may undergo anacoustic shock. When the hearing aid adapted for a specific environmentis directly used regardless of an environmental change, that is, whenupdated fitting information is not received, the user may beinconvenienced in everyday life.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present general inventive concept provides a mobile communicationterminal and method capable of controlling a hearing aid according to anenvironmental situation of the hearing aid.

The present general inventive concept further provides a mobilecommunication terminal capable of reporting a current state (operation,or environment) of a hearing aid to a user.

The present general inventive concept also provides a method ofcontrolling a wireless digital hearing aid using a mobile communicationterminal.

The present general inventive concept provides an environment-awarewireless digital hearing aid.

Additional aspects and utilities of the present general inventiveconcept will be set forth in part in the description which follows and,in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned bypractice of the general inventive concept.

The foregoing and/or other aspects and utilities of the generalinventive concept may be achieved by a mobile communication terminalincluding a radio unit to communicate with a wireless digital hearingaid, an environment measurer to measure an environmental signal, and ahearing aid controller to output at least one of a control command andinformation to control the hearing aid by analyzing a measurement resultof the environmental signal.

The mobile communication terminal may further include a display todisplay the measurement result of the environmental signal.

The control information may be an environment profile in which afrequency-specific amplification gain is set according to theenvironmental signal.

The control command may be an emergency control signal to request thehearing aid to temporarily perform at least one of a muting operationand a sound adjusting operation.

The measured environmental signal may be classified and analyzed as atleast one of voice, noise, and sound other than the voice and noise.

The foregoing and/or other aspects and utilities of the generalinventive concept may be achieved by a wireless digital hearing aidincluding a radio unit to communicate with a mobile communicationterminal, and a gain controller to perform at least one of an updateoperation and a temporary adjustment operation on a non-linearamplification gain according to at least one of a control command andinformation sent from the mobile communication terminal.

The control information may be an environment profile in which afrequency-specific amplification gain is set according to anenvironmental signal measured by the mobile communication terminal.

The measured environmental signal may be classified and analyzed as atleast one of voice, noise, and sound other than the voice and noise.

The foregoing and/or other aspects and utilities of the generalinventive concept may be achieved by providing a method of controlling awireless digital hearing aid using a mobile communication terminalincluding determining, by the mobile communication terminal, whether thehearing aid is in operation, measuring, by the mobile communicationterminal, an environmental signal when the hearing aid is in operation,determining, by the mobile communication terminal, whether a signallevel exceeds an allowed range by analyzing a measurement result of theenvironmental signal, and requesting, by the mobile communicationterminal, the hearing aid to update a non-linear amplification gain whenthe signal level exceeds the allowed range.

The foregoing and/or other aspects and utilities of the generalinventive concept may be achieved by providing a method of controlling awireless digital hearing aid using a mobile communication terminalincluding determining, by the mobile communication terminal, whether thehearing aid is in operation, receiving, by the mobile communicationterminal, auditory characteristics of a user from the hearing aid whenthe hearing aid is in operation, and measuring an environmental signal,generating, by the mobile communication terminal, an environment profileby analyzing a measurement result of the environment signal, andrequesting, by the mobile communication terminal, the hearing aid toupdate a non-linear amplification gain by sending the environmentprofile to the hearing aid.

The foregoing and/or other aspects and utilities of the generalinventive concept may be achieved by providing a method of controlling awireless digital hearing aid using a mobile communication terminalincluding determining, by the mobile communication terminal, whether thehearing aid is in operation, measuring, by the mobile communicationterminal, an environmental signal when the hearing aid is in operation,determining, by the mobile communication terminal, whether a signallevel exceeds an allowed range by analyzing a measurement result of theenvironmental signal, and sending, by the mobile communication terminal,an emergency control signal to the hearing aid so that the hearing aidtemporarily adjusts sound to be output when the signal level exceeds theallowed range.

The determining whether the signal level exceeds the allowed rangeincludes receiving, by the mobile communication terminal, auditorycharacteristics of a user from the hearing aid, the auditorycharacteristics of the user being referred to along with the analyzedmeasurement result of the environment signal.

The analyzing the measured environment signal includes dividing voice,noise, and sound other than the voice and noise.

The method of controlling a wireless digital hearing aid using a mobilecommunication terminal further includes displaying the measurementresult of the environmental signal.

The foregoing and/or other aspects and utilities of the generalinventive concept may be achieved by providing a hearing aid systemhaving a wireless digital hearing aid and a mobile communicationterminal including a radio unit in the mobile communication terminal tocommunicate with the wireless digital hearing aid, a radio unit in thewireless digital hearing aid to communicate with the mobilecommunication terminal, and an environment measure to measure anenvironmental signal, wherein the mobile communication terminal includesa hearing controller to output at least one of a control command andinformation to control the hearing aid by analyzing a measurement resultof the environmental signal, and wherein the wireless digital hearingaid includes a gain controller to perform at least one of an updateoperation and a temporary adjustment operation on a non-linearamplification gain according to the at least one of the control commandand information sent from the mobile communication terminal.

The hearing aid system further includes a display to display themeasurement result of the environmental signal.

The control information may be an environment profile in which afrequency-specific amplification gain is set according to theenvironmental signal.

The control command may be an emergency control signal to request thehearing aid to temporarily perform at least one of a muting operationand a sound adjusting operation.

The measured environmental signal may be classified and analyzed as atleast one of voice, noise, and sound other than the voice and noise.

The foregoing and/or other aspects and utilities of the generalinventive concept may be achieved by providing a mobile communicationterminal used to control a hearing aid including a radio unit to receivea signal representing auditory information from a hearing aid, a mobileprocessor to receive another signal from an external terminal, and acontroller to process the another signal to generate sound or image, toprocess sound or image to output the processed sound or image to theexternal terminal, and to process the signal representing the auditoryinformation to output an environmental signal to the hearing aid tocontrol the hearing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects and utilities of the present generalinventive concept will become apparent and more readily appreciated fromthe following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a structure of a hearing aid system according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling a wirelessdigital hearing aid according to an embodiment of the present generalinventive concept;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling a wirelessdigital hearing aid according to an embodiment of the present generalinventive concept;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling a wirelessdigital hearing aid according to an embodiment of the present generalinventive concept; and

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling a wirelessdigital hearing aid according to an embodiment of the present generalinventive concept.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the presentgeneral inventive concept, examples of which are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the likeelements throughout. The embodiments are described below in order toexplain the present general inventive concept by referring to thefigures.

According to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept, amobile communication terminal and a wireless digital hearing aid performa digital-signal processing algorithm, thereby providing the convenienceof use of the hearing aid by utilizing a radio communication channel.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a user wearing adigital hearing aid may control the hearing aid by collectinginformation about a current use place (for example, an airport, a taxi,or a cafeteria) through a portable terminal. Specifically, the terminalmay receive an environmental signal, analyze the received signal in afrequency domain, and compute an optimum profile suitable for eachenvironment using auditory information of the user received from thedigital hearing aid. The profile may be updated in real time,periodically, or according to need.

FIG. 1 illustrates a structure of a hearing aid system according to anembodiment of the present general inventive concept.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the hearing aid system includes a wirelessdigital hearing aid 150 and a mobile communication terminal 250.

The wireless hearing aid 150 includes a microphone 101, an analog todigital converter (ADC) 102, a digital signal processor (DSP) 103, adigital to analog converter (DAC) 104, a volume controller 105, anamplifier 106, a power supply 107, a first radio unit 108, and areceiver 109.

The microphone 101 is provided on an outer portion of the hearing aidfitted to a user's ear to receive an analog signal around the ear andoutputs the received analog signal to the ADC 102. The ADC 102 convertsthe analog signal output from the microphone 101 into a digital signal.The DSP 103 performs digital signal processing such as noisecancellation, feedback control, or non-linear amplification required bythe hearing aid for the digital signal output from the ADC 102, and thenoutputs the processed signal to the DAC 104. The DSP 103 processesnoises and sounds of the user's current environment and creates auditoryinformation (for example, an audiogram) representative of noises andsounds in the user's current environment. The DSP 103 sends the auditoryinformation of the user to the mobile communication terminal 250 throughthe radio unit 108. The mobile communication terminal 250 may create anenvironment profile including control information to be sent to the DSP103. The mobile communication terminal 250 may also send a controlcommand to the DSP 103. The control command may be an emergency controlsignal to request the hearing aid to temporarily perform, for example, amuting operation and a sound adjusting operation. The environmentprofile may set a frequency-specific amplification gain to berepresented by an environmental signal generated by the mobilecommunication terminal 250. The DSP 103 may receive the control commandand the environmental signal from the mobile communication terminal 250through the radio unit 108. The control command and the environmentalsignal may be reflected in a signal to be output to the DAC 104.

The volume controller 105 adjusts a gain value of the amplifier 106using information based on manipulation of the user. The amplifier 106amplifies a signal at power of the power supply 107 by applying the gainvalue adjusted by the volume controller 105 to the analog signalreceived from the DAC 104. The receiver 109 reproduces an audible signalfrom the output signal of the amplifier 106.

The DSP 103 or the amplifier 106 may constitute a gain controller toupdate or temporarily adjust a non-linear amplification gain, forexample, the frequency-specific amplification gain according to acontrol command or information sent from the mobile communicationterminal 250.

The mobile communication terminal 250 includes a second radio unit 201,a DSP 202, a display 203, an audio processor 204, a baseband processor205, a receiver 206, and a microphone 207.

Here, the DSP 202, the display 203, the audio processor 204, thebaseband processor 205, the receiver 206, and the microphone 207 may bereferred to as a mobile processor to perform a conventional operation ofthe mobile communication terminal 250, such as wireless communicationwith another mobile communication terminal to receive and transmit asignal, process the signal, and control the receiver 206 and themicrophone 207.

The radio unit 201 receives auditory information of the user and systeminformation of residual power energy from the radio unit 108 of thewireless digital hearing aid 150, and outputs the received informationto the DSP 202 and the display 203. The radio unit 201 sends theenvironmental signal representative of the user's environment profile tothe radio unit 108. That is, for example, the radio unit 201 may sendcontrol information input from the DSP 202 to the radio unit 108 of thewireless digital hearing aid 150.

The DSP 202 processes the control information input from the radio unit201, the baseband processor 205, and the audio processor 204, and thenoutputs the processed control information to the radio unit 201, thebaseband processor 205, and the audio processor 204. The microphone 207,the audio processor 204, and the DSP 202 may constitute an environmentmeasurer to measure the environmental signal. The DSP 202 may be ahearing aid controller that may analyze a result of measuring theenvironmental signal, output the control command or control informationto control the hearing aid 150, and send the control command or controlinformation through the radio unit 201.

The audio processor 204 receives voice, noise, and sound other than thevoice and noise (that is, an environmental signal) from the microphone207 and outputs a signal to the DSP 202. A processed signal is receivedfrom the DSP 202 and an audible signal is output through the receiver206.

The baseband processor 205 may be responsible for voice communicationand data communication, and exchanges voice and data with the DSP 202.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling a wirelessdigital hearing aid according to an embodiment of the present generalinventive concept.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, in operation A1, a terminal of an idle statechecks whether the hearing aid is in operation. If it is determined thatthe hearing aid is not in operation, a task is terminated. It may bedetermined, for example, that the hearing aid is in operation if aresponse is received by sending a signal to the hearing aid, and thatthe hearing aid is not in operation if no response is received.

If it is determined that the hearing aid is in operation, the terminalmeasures an environmental signal in operation A2. The environmentalsignal may be classified as voice, noise, or other sound (for example,music).

In operation A3, the measurement result of operation A2 is displayed.Operation A3 may be optionally performed. That is, operation A3 may beperformed so that the user may visually recognize the measurement resultof the environmental signal, or may not be performed. When the uservisually recognizes the measurement result of the environmental signal,he/she may cope with an unexpected situation (for example, sudden largenoise or temporary hearing impairments due to environmental factors).

In operation A4, the terminal analyzes the measurement result of theenvironmental signal and checks whether a signal level exceeds anallowed range. In this embodiment, it may be determined that the signallevel exceeds the allowed range when the signal level is greater than anallowed value. In this case, when the signal level does not exceed theallowed range, the terminal directly maintains the idle state without asubsequent task.

When the signal level exceeds the allowed range, the terminal requeststhe hearing aid to update a non-linear amplification gain in operationA5. Although not illustrated, the hearing aid updates the non-linearamplification gain according to a non-linear amplification gain updaterequest received from the terminal. That is, in FIG. 1, a non-linearamplification gain update request a2 is sent to the first radio unit 108of the hearing aid 150 through the second radio unit 201 of the terminal250, thereby controlling a gain of the DSP 103 of the hearing aid 150.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling a wirelessdigital hearing aid according to an embodiment of the present generalinventive concept.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, in operation B1, the terminal of the idlestate checks whether the hearing aid is in operation. If it isdetermined that the hearing aid is not in operation, a task isterminated.

If the hearing aid is in operation, the terminal receives auditoryinformation of the user from the hearing aid in operation B2. Atransmission of the auditory information of the user may be preset orperformed by a request of the hearing aid.

In operation B3, the terminal measures an environmental signal. Althoughnot illustrated, the measurement result can be displayed in operationB3. Like operation A3 of FIG. 2 as described above, operation B3 isoptionally performed.

In operation B4, the terminal analyzes the measurement result of theenvironmental signal and generates an environment profile in which afrequency-specific amplification gain is set.

In operation B5, the terminal requests the hearing aid to update thenon-linear amplification gain by sending the environment profilethereto. Although not illustrated, the hearing aid updates thenon-linear amplification gain by referring to the environment profilereceived from the terminal.

In operation B5, the terminal maintains the idle state after requestingthe hearing aid to update the non-linear amplification gain.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling a wirelessdigital hearing aid according to an embodiment of the present generalinventive concept.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, in operation C1, the terminal of the idlestate checks whether the hearing aid is in operation. If it isdetermined that the hearing aid is not in operation, a task isterminated.

If the hearing aid is in operation in operation C1, the terminalmeasures an environmental signal in operation C2.

In operation C3, the measurement result of operation C2 is displayed. Asdescribed above, operation C3 may be optionally performed.

In operation C4, the terminal analyzes the measurement result of theenvironmental signal and checks whether a signal level exceeds anallowed range. In this case, if it is determined that the signal leveldoes not exceed the allowed range, the idle state is directly maintainedwithout a subsequent task.

However, if the signal level exceeds the allowed range, the terminalsends an emergency control signal to the hearing aid in operation C5.Although not illustrated, the hearing aid may protect the user's hearingability by preventing sound from being output to the receiver 109 andamplified according to the emergency control signal received from theterminal.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling a wirelessdigital hearing aid according to an embodiment of the present generalinventive concept.

In operation D1, the terminal of the idle state checks whether thehearing aid is in operation. If it is determined that the hearing aid isnot in operation, a task is terminated.

If the hearing aid is in operation, the terminal receives auditoryinformation of the user from the hearing aid in operation D2. Thetransmission of the auditory information of the user may be preset orperformed by a request of the hearing aid.

In operation D3, the terminal measures an environmental signal. Althoughnot illustrated, the measurement result can be displayed in operationD3. Like operation A3 of FIG. 2 as described above, operation D3 isoptionally performed.

In operation D4, the terminal analyzes the measurement result of theenvironmental signal and checks whether a signal level exceeds anallowed range. In this case, if it is determined that the signal leveldoes not exceed the allowed range, the idle state is directly maintainedwithout a subsequent task.

However, if the signal level exceeds the allowed range, the terminalsends an emergency control signal to the hearing aid in operation D5.Although not illustrated, the hearing aid may protect the user's hearingability by preventing sound from being output to the receiver 109 andamplified according to the emergency control signal received from theterminal.

The present general inventive concept makes it possible for a terminaland a digital hearing aid to interact with each other, thereby allowinga user to check a currently operating state of the hearing aid or apower state through the terminal. Therefore, the hearing aid may beprevented from performing an abnormal operation due to an electric powershortage and the hearing aid user may visually or tactually senseenvironmental information (mainly, auditory information), therebyreducing an unpleasant feeling or fright when a sudden situation such aslarge noise occurs. The terminal measures and processes a voice/audiosignal and a noise signal around the hearing aid user and updates aprofile of the digital hearing aid. Therefore, an environment-awaredigital hearing aid may be provided using a terminal, the conveniencefor a user may be promoted, and a terminal function may be diversified.

The present general inventive concept may also be embodied ascomputer-readable codes on a computer-readable medium. Thecomputer-readable medium may include a computer-readable recordingmedium and a computer-readable transmission medium. Thecomputer-readable recording medium is any data storage device that maystore data that may be thereafter read by a computer system. Examples ofthe computer-readable recording medium include read-only memory (ROM),random-access memory (RAM), CD-ROMs, magnetic tapes, floppy disks, andoptical data storage devices. The computer-readable recording medium mayalso be distributed over network coupled computer systems so that thecomputer-readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion.The computer-readable transmission medium may transmit carrier waves orsignals (e.g., wired or wireless data transmission through theInternet). Also, functional programs, codes, and code segments toaccomplish the present general inventive concept may be easily construedby programmers skilled in the art to which the present general inventiveconcept pertains.

Although various example embodiments of the present general inventiveconcept have been illustrated and described, it will be appreciated bythose skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodimentswithout departing from the principles and spirit of the present generalinventive concept, the scope of which is defined in the appended claimsand their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic device, comprising: a communicationinterface to receive, from a hearing aid, power information including aresidual power of the hearing aid; a display configured to display theresidual power of the hearing aid, and a controller configured to: set afrequency-specific amplification gain based on one or more environmentalsignals, generate an environment profile including thefrequency-specific amplification gain and output a control signalincluding the environment profile, and control the communicationinterface to transmit the control signal including the environmentprofile to the hearing aid.
 2. The electronic device of claim 1, whereinthe controller is further configured to: obtain the one or moreenvironmental signals, and control the display to display an analysisresult of the one or more environmental signals.
 3. The electronicdevice of claim 1, wherein the communication interface is furtherconfigured to receive auditory information from the hearing aid.
 4. Theelectronic device of claim 1, wherein the controller is furtherconfigured to: determine whether a signal level of the one or moreenvironmental signals exceeds an allowed value, and if the signal levelexceeds the allowed value, control the communication interface totransmit an emergency control signal to the hearing aid.
 5. Theelectronic device of claim 1, wherein the one or more environmentalsignals are classified and analyzed as voice, noise, or sound other thanthe voice and noise.
 6. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein anon-linear frequency-specific amplification gain of the hearing aid isupdated or temporarily adjusted based on the frequency-specificamplification gain.
 7. A method of controlling a hearing aid by anelectronic device, the method comprising: receiving, from the hearingaid, power information including a residual power of the hearing aid;displaying the residual power of the hearing aid, setting afrequency-specific amplification gain based on one or more environmentalsignals; generating an environment profile including thefrequency-specific amplification gain and outputting a control signalincluding the environment profile; and transmitting the control signalincluding the environment profile including the frequency-specificamplification gain to the hearing aid.
 8. The method of claim 7, furthercomprising receiving auditory information of a user from the hearingaid, wherein the frequency-specific amplification gain is set based onthe auditory information and the one or more environmental signals. 9.The method of claim 7, wherein the one or more environmental signals areclassified and analyzed as voice, noise, or sound other than the voiceand noise.
 10. The method of claim 7, further comprising: obtaining theone or more environmental signals; and displaying an analysis of the oneor more environmental signals.
 11. The method of claim 7, furthercomprising: determining whether a signal level of the one or moreenvironmental signals exceeds an allowed value; and if the signal levelis exceeds the allowed value, transmitting an emergency control signalto the hearing aid.
 12. The method of claim 7, wherein: a non-linearfrequency-specific amplification gain of the hearing aid is updated ortemporarily adjusted based on the frequency-specific amplification gain.